Astructural analog, also known as achemical analog or simply ananalog, is acompound having astructure similar to that of another compound, but differing from it in respect to a certain component.[1][2][3]
It can differ in one or moreatoms,functional groups, or substructures, which are replaced with other atoms, groups, or substructures. A structural analog can be imagined to be formed, at least theoretically, from the other compound. Structural analogs are oftenisoelectronic.
Despite a high chemical similarity, structural analogs are not necessarilyfunctional analogs and can have very different physical, chemical, biochemical, or pharmacological properties.[4]
Indrug discovery, either a large series of structural analogs of an initiallead compound are created and tested as part of astructure–activity relationship study[5] or a database isscreened for structural analogs of alead compound.[6]
Chemical analogues ofillegal drugs are developed and sold in order to circumvent laws. Such substances are often calleddesigner drugs. Because of this, the United States passed theFederal Analogue Act in 1986. This bill banned the production of any chemical analogue of aSchedule I orSchedule II substance that has substantially similar pharmacological effects, with the intent of human consumption.
A neurotransmitter analog is a structural analogue of aneurotransmitter, typically adrug. Some examples include:
